I missed this when it first came out in June, but it seems the US Postal Service has deployed an augmented reality tool on their PriorityMail website that overlays a 3D box onto the webcam image, aiding you in choosing a box of proper size.
“When any new technology comes along like this a lot of people gravitate towards it,” said Garry Pessia, senior account director at AKQA. “There’s definitely a buzz factor. At the end of the day, it all boils down to is it useful to consumers and can they get use of it. We've seen that going way back with the first uses of Flash. That stuff goes away if there’s not an actual utility.”
It’s probably one of the first truly useful public AR systems I’ve seen, although I imaging most people find simple rulers much simpler to deal with, and less crash-prone.
